Particle build-up on head assemblies of magnetic tape players and/or recorder units has been a problem addressed in the past. As magnetic tape passes over a surface, magnetic particles from the tape and other debris may be deposited on the surface of the head. The particles build up, eventually degrading the signal quality of the head member. Typical approaches to cleaning such devices have involved using a cassette cleaning tape, with or without a cleaning solution, that runs over the head assembly to be cleaned, or using a cleaning cassette having an oscillating motion wiper arm and cleaning pad within its housing. The problem with these devices is their inability to penetrate and clean small crevices and corners so as to completely remove particulate matter from the entire area of the head assembly. This problem is particularly acute with a digital compact cassette (DCC) player and/or recorder where a guidance track is employed for accurate alignment of the tape as it passes over the head member. The guidance track and head member assembly has numerous spaced-apart corners and crevices. So far, it has proved difficult to clean these portions of the player and/or recorder head assemblies with conventional cleaning devices.
One well-known cleaning device is a cassette loaded with a short length of mildly abrasive cleaning tape that has a greater thickness than that of normal recording tape. This cleaning tape is sometimes used with a cleaning solution applied to the tape. It is used by inserting the cleaning tape within the cassette player and/or recorder unit, and activating the play mode such that the abrasive tape runs over the head member. This method does not clean inside small corners and crevices in which particulate matter builds up sufficiently to eventually become a problem.
Other prior art devices employ a wiper arm within a cassette-like housing. The wiper arm pivotally moves within the housing, causing a reciprocating motion of a pad at the end of the wiper arm to clean the head member. A cleaning solution may also be applied to the pad for improved cleaning ability. This device also has the problem of not being able to reach and clean in tight corners and crevices and, therefore, does not effectively address the problem of particulate matter build-up in those areas. The pad also is not especially effective in cleaning a DCC player and/or recorder unit, because it can easily hang up when cleaning around the guideposts and track.
In consideration of the limitations of the devices disclosed in the prior art discussed above, it seems apparent that an effective solution to the problem of cleaning the corners and crevices of a cassette player and/or recorder head assembly, especially a DCC guidance track and head unit, is not currently known. Accordingly, the present invention was developed, and it provides significant advantages over the prior art devices for cleaning magnetic tape players and/or recorder heads and the area or guidance track around them.